Bexar County Innovation Fund
Funds Bexar County innovation through startup recruitment, expansion, and training.
The Bexar County Innovation Fund is a rolling economic development grant program administered by Bexar County, Texas, established in 2015 with an initial $1 million appropriation and governed by the Innovation Policy approved December 13, 2022. Its stated purpose is to spur and accelerate growth of the innovation ecosystem within Bexar County, with the county encouraging collaborative, multi-agency applications across six distinct funding categories: Recruitment, Expansion, Innovation Development Activities, Professional/Technical Training, Brand Building, and SBIR Matching.
Award sizes range from $1,000 per new employee in the Skills Development sub-category (up to $50,000 annually) to $87,500 confirmed for Geekdom's 2025 startup bootcamp series, $200,000 confirmed for TechBloc's 2026 TechFuel Competition, and up to $250,000 as the general program maximum per project. The SBIR Matching Grant sub-category caps at $50,000; the Security Clearance Stipend provides up to $7,500 per person (maximum two per year). Eligibility conditions vary by category: Recruitment applicants must bring in at least five employees with 70% earning the county's High Tech Wage ($35.36/hour) and none below the Living Wage ($20.18/hour); Expansion applicants must have been headquartered in Bexar County for at least 36 months and maintain minimum $1 million annual revenue; Brand Building requires dollar-for-dollar private-sector matching; and Professional/Technical Training is restricted to current Bexar County residents.
All awards require individual approval by the Bexar County Commissioners Court — there is no batch cycle or guaranteed timeline. Applications are submitted through the online Innovation Fund portal at bexar.org/2795/Innovation-Fund on a rolling, continuous basis with no fixed deadline. Organizations seeking to win should document precise wage compliance, align with one of the six defined categories, and prepare a clear economic-impact narrative for Commissioners Court review, ideally in partnership with established county ecosystem anchors such as Geekdom, TechBloc, or Port San Antonio.
Rolling county grants for Bexar County technology ecosystem development, covering company recruitment and expansion, SBIR matching, skills training, innovation events, and brand-building activities for the San Antonio region.
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